During this week’s Masters Tournament, José María Olazábal is celebrating both the 30th anniversary of his first victory and 25th anniversary of his second Green Jacket at Augusta National.
Olazábal belongs to a particularly special group of names in the game of golf, counting himself among the 17 players who have won the Masters Tournament on two separate occasions.
Speaking ahead of his 35th appearance, the Spaniard said that being back competing at Augusta National with two anniversaries adds to the special nature of this week for him.
“It's always nice to be back at Augusta to play the Masters," he told media on Monday.
"Obviously this year is the 30th and the 25th anniversaries of my victories, and, well, it's a little special in that regard.
"But I have always said this place is very special to me regardless of the anniversaries or not."
When he first competed in 1985 as an amateur, Olazábal readily admits he found the experience incredibly nerve-wracking.
"I remember coming here in '85 as an amateur champion," he said. "Walked on to the driving range which was the old driving range, and I had never seen grass so perfect before in my life.
"So I started to warm up, hit some wedges, and you know what? I thinned them all. I couldn't hit a divot. I was so scared of spoiling such perfect turf.
Yet by the time he arrived nine years later in 1994, he returned as one of the favourites for the title. He'd already had a runner-up finish at The Masters in 1991, a top ten in 1993, and had a win under his belt in the run-up to that year's tournament.
Here, we take a look back at how that victory unfolded.
While expectations may have been high, Olazábal somewhat unexpectedly struggled to an opening round 74 and found himself six shots behind first-round leader Larry Mize.
Annoyed at himself, he left the course without heading to the range and headed home. He then returned the next day with a more relaxed attitude, and with those lower expectations played his way back into contention with a second-round 67. He followed it with a third-round 69 to move just one behind Tom Lehman heading into the final day, giving himself a real second chance at winning his first Major title.
When he reflected on his emotions ahead of that now career-defining Sunday, he admitted that he was filled with so many nerves he wasn't able to eat.
"In '94 I remember I was very nervous," he recalled. "I couldn't eat in the morning on Sunday."
Prior to his fourth round, he found an unexpected note inside his locker from close friend Seve Ballesteros, telling him to 'stay calm, let your game do the talking, you have the game to win it'. It was a special moment for the then 28-year-old, who read it and then put it back in his locker before taking the time to soak in the atmosphere ahead of his final round tee time.
"We were sitting just outside the locker room and, you know, I sat down there for I would say 30, 40 minutes without saying a word.
"I remember Tom Watson walking on to the first tee and I said to Sergio Gomez, who was with me then, how special it was to be just sitting there waiting for your tee time and watching Tom Watson hit the tee shot on one."
In a previous interview, Olazábal spoke about those nerves easing once he had hit that opening tee shot, and by the eighth hole he had drawn level with Lehman.
“On the first tee especially I had a lot of butterflies in my stomach. I remember teeing the ball up and my hand was shaking quite a bit, but once I hit that opening tee shot and I started walking towards my ball everything seemed to calm down and that was it. After that it was a good day, Tom and I, I think we both played some good golf.”
By the 12th hole there was a one-stroke advantage in favour of Olazábal, and at 15 he holed a 35-footer for eagle that put him two shots in front with just three to go.
"Obviously I think the key moment on Sunday was that putt on 15, playing with Tom Lehman. I think that was the one that really, you know, opened my chances to win the tournament.
“I tried to keep my emotions in control, and even though I made that putt on 15, if you see my reaction I wasn’t jumping up or fist-pumping the air, I knew there was still a lot of golf to be played, three more holes. On 16, with that pin back left and the water in play, I knew there was a lot of golf so I didn’t put myself ahead of the situation and I stayed as calm as possible.”
A dropped shot at the 17th halved his lead to just one heading up 18, but a par to Lehman's bogey five at the last gave him a two-stroke victory and his first Major win.
“The bogey on 17 affected me, but I had a little cushion and I stayed calm. And then, once I got to the 18th and everything was over, when I knocked that putt in and I knew I was the champion, I had a sense of relief."
Five years later, Olazábal achieved the feat for a second time, coming out the better of a Sunday battle with Greg Norman for a victory that was utterly remarkable given that just a year after his 1994 victory he suffered from a foot injury that left him having to take an 18-month break from the game.
Now enjoying his 35th appearance at The Masters, Olazábal - who memorably captained the winning European Ryder Cup team at Medinah in 2012 - will be hoping to emulate his most recent feat of making the cut - which he last achieved in 2021.
First though, he'll get to enjoy an evening at the Champions Dinner hosted by fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm.
"I tell you what, Jon's menu is going to be fantastic. I could spend the rest of my life eating that food. Let's put it that way."
